


Dream Come True

by fannishliss



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Women of Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-28 18:06:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/994917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fannishliss/pseuds/fannishliss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ficlet featuring Carmen from 2.20, What Is and What Should Never Be</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dream Come True

Dream Come True

“You say you’re a casting agent?”  Carmen squinted at the guy in the dim light of O’Malley’s.   This “Dean” didn’t look like the Hollywood type to her.

“Well, yeah, honey: ‘Your Name in Lights!’”   The guy had a cute grin and a pleasant way about him, even when he was lying through his teeth.  Carmen thought he might be worth a chance.  So she decided to call him on his tacky-ass line. 

“Aren’t you a little young for that line of work?”

“You’re too kind.”  The guy actually batted his eyelashes at her.  Or at least, he slowly lowered his lids, regrouped, and raised them again, all the while training his stunning green eyes at hers.  Carmen had to admit, the effect was impressive.

“Lotta casting agents change oil for a living?”

That caught him off guard. “Uh, come again?”

“Do you think I’m blind?  You’ve got engine grease under your nails.  And there’s oil up here, right at the temple.  Must get hot at the garage.”

Well, now he was blushing, tips of his ears turning red, and that was just freakin adorable. “Getting pretty hot right here where I’m sitting.”  Pretty cool come back too.

“Don’t you ever have a serious answer?”  Carmen wanted to know.

“Not if I can help it,”’ the guy said, taking a good swallow of whiskey.

Carmen decided just to fish or cut bait.  The world didn’t run on wishes:  you had to make your own luck.  “Listen, Dean, if that is your real name, I kind of like you...  but I’d rather play it straight.  You wanna hook up, just say so, and we’ll see how the evening progresses.”

Yeah, this guy really didn’t know what to do with the direct approach.  Carmen thought flustered was the best look on him so far – his eyes all wide, his pretty lips parted. “Uh.... yeah.  Well, you got me.  I am a mechanic.  I work down on Elm Street, the Texaco garage?”

“Oh, yeah!  My dad always liked that place.  Says the mechanic there is real good.  Winchester, isn’t it?”    What were the odds?  He’d just come right out with the truth. Pretty cool, she thought again.

“Yeah, uh, but that was my dad.  He passed away a few years back.  Stroke, they think. Died in his sleep.”  His gorgeous face smoothed over as he covered his emotion. Carmen had seen that sort of thing too often.

“Oh, man, I’m sorry.  Worse ways to go though.”  She tried to keep the conversation light.

“Absolutely. ... What do you do, if we’re sharing and caring here?”

So much for that effort. “I’m an oncology nurse.”

“Oh god, I mean, that must be awful!  I mean, someone has to do it... I mean...  What I’m trying to say is, it must take a really special person to be able to handle that, day in day out.”  Dean sputtered a bit, but Carmen was impressed by his honest reaction.

“Hey, it’s okay.  You’re right, it is hard. But I see so much courage, so much love, that even the horrible things balance out in the long run.”

His fine brows drew together, doubtful. “Do they?  Really?”

“Yeah, I think they do.  Like, just the other day:  this old guy – not real old, but old – he’d spent his whole life as a farmer, big strong guy – cancer took the use of his legs and he’s in a wheel chair, and he’s got a wife, and two grown daughters, and a little baby grandson... and they were all so afraid, but being strong for each other.  I know, I have to cry about it all sometimes, but you see the best of humanity under pressure like that.”

“Wow.  I never thought about that, about death, that way.” 

Carmen looked at Dean closely.  There was something – not quite right – about his answer.  His voice was steady enough, but something in his eyes as he looked up at her, told her he had seen almost as much of death as she had.  He had the look.  There was just no way around it.

“My line of work, I see death all the time.  All the damn time,” Carmen answered carefully.

“Well, finish that whiskey, and let’s see what we can do to see a little life instead...  what do you say, sugar?”  There it was again.  The lightness on Dean’s face – it was forced, as if it covered over knowledge that he didn’t even know was there.  Just a glimpse, as though for just half a second, Dean had been someone else – someone who knew death intimately, like she did.

“I’m not too fond of your patter, sweet face, but I like the look in your eye.”

Dean smiled, a real one this time.  “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” Carmen said, returning his smile.   She was intrigued by Dean.  She was more than ready to take a chance.

Dean picked up the tabs and they headed out.

The night was cool and Carmen shivered under the moonlight. Dean walked over to an awesome old classic car and opened the door for her. The moonlight shimmered down on the car, all black and silver, and an electric blue light seemed to dance along her for a second, but when Carmen blinked, the shimmer was gone and Dean was waiting for her to get in.

“Wow, these are the perks of being a mechanic, right?”  The interior was leather, smooth and creamy, lovingly cared for over the years.

“This old girl has been in my family since 1974,”  Dean patted the steering wheel proudly.

“That’s fantastic, Dean!”   Carmen could see the pride on his face as he turned the key, and the engine purred into life.

“I know, right?”  Dean said, smiling, over the roar of the engine as he gunned it lightly.  “That’s the original 427 in there!”

Carmen had no idea what he was talking about, but the engine roared smooth and strong, like a beast the man had tamed with love and affection.

The moonlight shone in through the windshield, but the grin on Dean’s face was lit up from within. Something about him.... she couldn’t put her finger on it.  She’d gone home with men sometimes, she was young and ready for fun – but something about Dean just struck her as different.

Carmen laughed, and Dean said, “What?” laughing along with her.

“You’re going to think that this is crazy, but, it’s almost like I know you!”

“You’re right, that’s crazy!”  Dean laughed.

Carmen shook her head, happy in a way she couldn’t really put a name on. She leaned over and kissed Dean softly on the lips.  He kissed her back gently, matching her move for move, until both of them were breathless.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Don’t thank me yet, sweetheart, the night is young!”

“Shut up.  Let’s go back to my place,” Carmen said, laughing again.

“All right!  I forgot to tell you, I moved back in with my mom when Dad died, so...”

“You live at home?  Really?”

Dean nodded sheepishly, grinning.  Carmen really looked at him.  There was something so hopeful, so young, in Dean’s face, but Carmen thought there was a mystery to him, one she thought she might enjoy solving.

“Hey – take my hands,” Carmen said, impulsively.

“Why?”  Dean laughed, but he took her hands.  He had mechanic’s hands – calloused, scarred and stained with grime that Lava soap couldn’t wash off.  His grip was strong, but gentle.  Carmen squeezed back.

“Close your eyes, and wish with me.”

“Wish?  What for?  I’ve got everything I want already.”

“Wish that this will be a night we’ll remember always.”  Carmen closed her eyes and gripped Dean’s hands tightly.

A little thrill went through her and she opened her eyes to see their joined hands crackling blue—but it was gone again as fast as she could blink.

“Did you see that?”  Carmen asked, surprised.

“Nope!”  Dean said, “but I wished like you said.  Maybe we made a little magic, huh?”

He waggled his eyebrows at her.  Carmen just punched him lightly in the shoulder. 

“Take me home, man, and we’ll see what we can do.”

In a warehouse far away, a man hung by his wrists, on his lips the twitch of a grin, in his heart the smiling girl of his dreams.


End file.
